Ukraine says Iran 'knew from start' missile downed plane

Kiev on Monday (Feb 3) accused Tehran of knowing from the start that an Iranian missile had downed a Ukrainian airliner last month, after leaked recordings emerged from Iranian air traffic control.

Ukraine has called for those responsible for the downing of the jet to be punished and for compensation to be paid. (AFP/Akbar TAVAKOLI)

The recordings, aired on Ukraine's 1+1 TV channel on Sunday, feature a conversation between an air traffic controller and the pilot of another plane at the time the Ukrainian airliner was hit on Jan 8, killing all 176 people on board.

The pilot can be heard describing "the light of a missile" on its route and then an explosion.

Iran initially denied Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) Boeing 737 had been brought down by one of its missiles.

It later admitted that two missiles were fired at the plane by air defences on high alert, hours after Iranian armed forces fired ballistic missiles at US troops stationed in Iraq.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said after the release of the recording that it "proves that the Iranian side knew from the start that our plane was hit by a missile.